In the hallowed halls of Harvard, where the echo chamber of progressive ideology reverberates, Lawrence Tribe stands as a venerated figure. A constitutional law scholar in title, Tribe has morphed into a partisan warrior, his scholarly objectivity seemingly surrendered to the altar of progressive politics.
Radical progressives look up to Lawrence Tribe, a Harvard Law professor emeritus because he is also a radical progressive who occasionally interprets things to fit the political narrative of radical progressives. Some would call that making it up as he goes.
For someone who is supposed to be one of the most learned men in constitutional law, he has been missing the mark when it comes to his rhetoric about Democrats wanting to remove former President Donald Trump from primary ballots in blue states over their deeming of the January 6, 2021, two-and-a-half-hour riot as an “insurrection.”
Tribe believes it is perfectly rational and legal for Democrats to remove Donald Trump, the frontrunner by a long shot for the Republican Party’s primary race, from the GOP primary ballot on a theory where Tribe’s rationale hinges on a dubious interpretation of the Insurrection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, an argument that appears more as a thinly veiled attempt to pander to the anti-Trump fervor than a sound legal theory. Either he is sucking up to the TDS crowd on the left or he himself believes something that a first-year law student would find in error.
Fourteenth Amendment, Section 3 Disqualification from Holding Office
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
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Tribe is pushing the dangerous idea that the government can make accusations against someone without going through the legal process of charging the person with an official crime listed on the books, holding a trial where the government presents its case and the accused presents its defense, then waiting on a verdict, only to skip through all of that and impose the penalties for a crime that they never formally charged the person with in the first place. That’s what Tribe is condoning, and that’s what the Democrats are doing in states when they act to remove Trump from a primary ballot.
This stance not only undermines the fundamental principles of due process and fair play but also ignores key elements of the same amendment. More on that in a bit.
People might say that even though it says insurrection in Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, there is no law per se to charge someone with that. Therefore, the situation is so serious that the government has to act, anyway. And I would recommend that they read the Constitution sometime.
What Tribe and the other radicals with law degrees are doing, besides throwing out 248 years of due process, is ignoring Section 5 of the same Fourteenth Amendment, which states:
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
And guess what? The Congress did just that. Based on the powers given to Congress by Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment, they created 18 U.S. Code § 2383 – Rebellion or insurrection which states the following:
Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
This is not something new that was recently created. It was written in 1948. You’d think that radical legal eagle progressives like Lawrence Tribe would be ecstatic about this since Congress could charge Trump with it. But he hasn’t mentioned it, at least not to the best of my knowledge.
While President Trump was impeached (indicted by the House) over the events of January 6, he was acquitted at the trial in the US Senate.
Despite widespread allegations and intense media scrutiny, it’s noteworthy that former President Donald Trump, along with several key figures associated with the January 6th Capitol incident, were never formally charged with insurrection. This includes Jacob Chansley, famously known as the “QAnon Shaman,” and Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys. The same applies to the four members of the Oath Keepers, a group heavily spotlighted in the aftermath. Moreover, out of the hundreds of Americans arrested in relation to the Capitol events—ranging from those actively involved in the riot to individuals merely walking around inside the Capitol, capturing the moment like any ordinary tourist—none faced charges of insurrection.
Imagine that. Democrats in blue states are enforcing the penalty of a crime against Trump that he was never charged with and convicted of, and Lawrence Tribe, the best the radical left has, has gone to considerable lengths to explain how this is rational, legal, and proper.
Marc Elias is another one who works to rig elections. Elias, a lawyer who is nationally recognized as an authority on voting rights, redistricting, and the law, is celebrated by the same radical progressives who support Lawrence Tribe. Elias went around to various states, filing lawsuits leading up to the 2020 election, to get left-wing activist judges to change election laws that made it more difficult for Democrats to cheat. The last time I checked, the Constitution says in Article I, Section 4, that the state legislature has the authority to create and/or change election laws, not the executive branch and not the judiciary.
Article I, Section 4, Clause 1
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
Elias put out this tweet on X as I was writing this story.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1743008045477568627?s=20
He’s admitting that he’s doing it again. I sincerely hope the Republicans in the states Elias and his lawyers are attacking put up a good defense because they are going after election integrity laws that the constitutionally authorized state legislatures created and their governors signed into law. This is how Democrats focus on elections, not campaigns. They do everything to rig elections in their favor, and Tribe, Elias, and other radicals with sheepskins on their walls are the tools being used to break down our democracy and undermine our elections.
In stark contrast, Trump’s actions, often vilified by the left, have not veered into the realm of constitutional violations or judicial malpractice that his adversaries so frequently inhabit. This tale of two approaches – one respecting legal norms, the other blatantly disregarding them – illustrates a troubling trend within certain progressive circles, where the ends justify the means and the law is but a tool to be manipulated for political gain.
As we witness these unfolding events, it’s crucial to remember that the real threat to our constitutional republic isn’t from figures like Trump but from those who, under the guise of legal expertise and moral superiority, seek to bend the law to their partisan whims.
So, the next time you hear a liberal say that Donald Trump will destroy our democracy, remind them that Trump is not the one bastardizing the justice system’s process or violating the Constitution to help rig elections. That’s the Democrats’ MO.
